In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in substituting ceramics for metals because, with respect to certain properties, ceramics are superior to metals. There are, however, several known limitations or difficulties in making this substitution such as scaling versatility, capability to produce complex shapes, satisfying the properties required for the end-use application, and costs. Many of these limitations or difficulties have been overcome by the inventions disclosed in Patent Applications and Patents assigned to the same assignee as this Application and discussed in the subsequent section, which provide novel methods for reliably producing ceramic and ceramic composite materials, including net and near net shaped bodies. However, the need to improve upon the existing technology continues. This invention expands further the novel technology of producing ceramic and ceramic composite bodies.